Wednesday, November 27, 2013

There are so many things in my life that I am thankful for, but this holiday season one thing rises above;
I am thankful for sleepless nights.
Yes you read that correctly,
sleepless nights.

Let me take you back a little and explain why this is what I am thankful for.
My wonderful son is now two years old and I adore everything about him.
He is my world, my everything, I love him more than life itself.

But long before he was here, I found myself excited and pregnant with another child.
I wanted my baby more than anything, but sadly I miscarried and lost my little angel.
It completely tore me apart. It seemed I cried endlessly. The emotional pain was far worse than any physical pain that I have ever endured. Time passed and I mourned, as I still do today, but I healed a little too. I began to pick up the pieces of my life and started trying to live again.

Several months later, I was on the phone with one of my girlfriends. It started out like so many others; "how've you been ..." and such. Then she said something that touched my heart.
She meant no harm, but it stung badly.

Here's what she said, "I'm so tired, my little guy kept me up all night and I'd give anything to get some sleep."

Not horrible words, we all get exhausted raising children. It was a completely understandable comment.
But at that very moment sadness overtook me. What I wouldn't give to have my angel keeping me up all night. Holding her in my arms and snuggling.

That day I promised myself, if I was ever blessed again with another child I would enjoy every sleepless night. Every moment would be a gift no matter how tired I was.

And luckily I was blessed with another miracle, and we've had so many sleepless nights together.
I love every moment of it. I usually hold and rock my little guy and quitely cry.
They're happy tears.
Grateful tears.

I am thankful to be blessed with a wonderful little boy,
and I love our sleepless nights.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

I have 2 tablets, 2 e-readers, a smartphone and I've put great consideration into just about every other gadget on the market as a maybe someday item; but when it comes right down to it

I prefer paper.

Guess I'm a bit old fashion.

I have apps for notes, calendars, recipes, books and more,

but I love having all of these things wrote down in a book too.

It makes me feel more organized and I like being able to add a personal touch to things.

A little sketch here, an adorable sticker there, just sweet embellishments that make me smile while I go through my little book of to - dos.

I've found a great little 3 ring binder book that I can do all these things in.

It's called Misc Me Life Journal by Bo Bunny.

And I am so loving this little book.

It has everything I need and then some.

You purchase the binder and all the accessories separately, giving you an awesome amount of choices on exactly what's going on inside your life journal.

Mine contains a monthly and daily calendar, beautiful vintage note paper, a section for family favorite recipes, a handful of sentiment cards with some of my favorite sayings, and some pretty paper pages to decorate and add photos to later.

And my favorite part.

The cover looks like a vintage book, but I see it as a blank canvas just waiting to be embellished.

These little books are so versatile.

It's a little bit like a planner, a little bit of a recipe book, and a little bit of a scrapbook.

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I love to see other peoples craft studios. I find it so inspiring to see how others store all their treasures. And I'm always looking for new ideas of things that I can do to my little crafting place.

When my husband and I brought our first home I had the second largest bedroom as my craft room.

It was amazing. It was pink and tan and had so many nifty storage shelves. People would visit and every single girl always told me they wanted that room. It was comfy and inviting, the perfect place to create all day.

Fast forward a few years and our family has grown just a little bit.

I has happy to paint my craft room green, add some fun curtains and a brightly colored foamy alphabet rug; and hand the second biggest room in the house over to my son.

I wanted him to have plenty of room to play and a space that he loved growing up in.

Nowadays, I have a much more condensed space. And I've learned to go up the wall for ample storage. And the funny thing is I still love my little corner space just as much as the huge room.

It's my favorite place to go relax and unwind.

So today I thought it would be fun to show you where all the magic happens.

I love this corset jewelry holder. It works great for storing my ribbon. It's pretty and functional, and I love being able to see what I have instead of having to dig for it.

Jars...tons of jars to store my flower collection.

Brads, pins, beads, and charms.

Then I have my desk underneath and it's full of additional storage.

From pencil holders to a spice rack to shelving and drawers.

Copic storage.

And the most important cabinet of my desk,

toys because my little guy is always with me and he needs something fun to play with while I craft :)

Friday, November 1, 2013

What would you do with an extra $1000 to spend this holiday season? How about I make the answer to that question a little easier with your chance to win $1000 cash in the Christmas Cash Giveaway event! Thanks to some amazing supporters of Raising Reagan and some all around awesome bloggers and shops, we were able to come together collectively with a CASH PRIZE of $1000!

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Please read the official rules of all sweepstakes and contests held at Raising Reagan.Giveaway is open worldwide to participants with a verified PayPal account.All entries will be verified. In the event an entry can not be verified participant chooses to forfeit that entry and another winner will be chosen.Winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email.
Giveaway will run from November 1st, 12 AM Eastern Time to November 22nd, 12 AM Eastern TimeAny taxes or fees associated with the winnings of this contest are the sole responsibility of the winner according to their county, state and/or country laws.CASH prize is in US Dollars and will not be converted to any foreign currency.Void where prohibited by law.Prize to be distributed by Lanaya from Raising Reagan a Rafflecopter giveaway